Kettal gets the DESIGNature Patricia Urquiola cocktail

April 18, 2017

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Terri Chen Photos
Courtesy of Kettal

BARCELONA – Studio Urquiola has redesigned the Kettal showroom in a celebration of Mediterranean outdoor living that expresses the character of the brand.

Featured in St-W #116, Patricia Urquiola has a client list that ranges from B&B Italia and Boffi to Kartell and CC-Tapis. In the upcoming magazine issue, Jonathan Openshaw calls Urquiola ‘a master of branding and communication’, heralding her as a new breed of designer/art director who seamlessly combines the creative and the commercial.

In the Kettal Barcelona address, which is also its head office, we see Urquiola staying true to her design philosophy that takes its inspiration from local influences. The redesign highlights the characteristics of classic Spanish architecture, revealing and emphasizing the iron bones of the existing structure and the original brick vaults of the ceiling. Meanwhile, traditional typological features like the patio-courtyard and ceramic tiles in bright, natural hues were introduced.

Taking advantage of the doubled height of the space, rectangular boxes are used as a repeating architectural element to unify the two levels of the showroom. This boxlike pattern is distributed throughout the space in various scales and modes.

The signature of Studio Urquiola can be seen scrawled in the playfulness of the space, written in the bright ink of Kettal’s colours and textures.